Refuse collection vehicle with pendular packing device and refuse ejection system

ABSTRACT

A refuse collection vehicle having a vehicle chassis including a vehicle cab and frame with a vehicle body mounted on top of the frame. The vehicle body has a front receiving hopper separated from a rear storage compartment by means of a partition having an aperture for passage of refuse. A pendular packing device having a refuse engaging face is pivotally mounted within the receiving hopper and arcuately swings to rapidly transfer refuse through the aperture. In order to empty the storage compartment, a rear door is opened to permit egress of refuse and the partition moves longitudinally along the vehicle body to displace refuse out of the storage compartment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to refuse collection vehicles, particularlyrefuse collection vehicles equipped with pendular packing devicescapable of ejecting stored refuse from the rear of the vehicle body.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Refuse collection vehicles normally have a vehicle chassisconsisting of a frame with front and rear sets of wheels, a cab forhousing the vehicle operator, and an engine for powering the vehicle'shydraulic system and rear wheels. The cab is mounted atop the frame atthe front end and a vehicle body is located rearward of the cab andlongitudinally aligned with the frame.

[0005] The vehicle body has a receiving hopper into which refuse isdeposited. The receiving hopper has a partition separating it from astorage compartment immediately rearward of the receiving hopper. Thestorage compartment normally includes a roof, two sides, a floor, and atleast one rear door that may be opened to permit egress of storedrefuse. The partition includes an aperture for passage of refuse fromthe receiving hopper to the storage compartment.

[0006] Refuse may be transferred through the aperture in at least twoways. One way is by longitudinally sliding a packing device positionedat the front of the receiving hopper towards the rear of the vehicle sothat a refuse engaging face of the packing device pushes the refusethrough the aperture into the storage compartment. Another way is byusing a pendular packing device pivotally mounted within the receivinghopper that arcuately swings from a raised position to a lower positiontowards the rear of the receiving hopper. The receiving hopper floor isnormally curved to correspond to the arc of the pendular packing deviceand a refuse engaging face of the packing device transfers the refusethrough the aperture. Since the transfer of refuse is aided by gravityand since this type of packing device is typically equipped withlow-volume, fast-acting hydraulic cylinders, refuse can be transferredto the storage compartment at a faster rate than with a conventionalsliding packing device, which usually increases the overall efficiencyof refuse collection. Also, sliding packing devices have load bearingsurfaces in contact with one another that are prone to wear andaccordingly have increased maintenance cost as compared with pendularpacking devices.

[0007] To empty waste from the storage compartment, for example at alandfill site, refuse collection vehicles are typically equipped with avehicle body tilting mechanism. The vehicle body is normally attached tothe rear of the vehicle frame by means of a hinge and a hydrauliclifting cylinder is provided to raise the front end of the vehicle body.Refuse is then permitted to downwardly slide from the storagecompartment through the open rear door. Raising the vehicle body placesthe vehicle in a precarious and unsafe position, especially on theuneven terrain frequently encountered at a landfill site. Also, there isa risk of contact with overhead obstacles, such as electrical wires. Thelifting cylinder is expensive and it is time consuming to raise thevehicle body.

[0008] To address these concerns, some refuse collection vehicles haverecently been equipped with refuse ejection systems. The refuse ejectionsystem employs a sliding packing device typically powered by a pair oftelescoping hydraulic cylinders. To eject the refuse, the telescopingcylinders extend the packing device, which engages the rear partition ofthe receiving hopper and longitudinally slides the partition towards therear of the vehicle. Refuse is thereby displaced out through the openrear door, obviating the need for the vehicle body tilting mechanism.

[0009] Conventional refuse ejection systems employ the sliding packingdevice, with the inherent wear problems previously described. Inaddition, a pair of telescoping cylinders is typically provided, whichincreases vehicle cost and maintenance. Due primarily to their largevolume, telescoping cylinders are inherently slow acting as comparedwith low volume cylinders, exacerbating the problem of slow transfer ofrefuse from the receiving hopper to the storage compartment normallyexperienced with sliding packing devices.

[0010] To increase collection efficiency, refuse vehicles are sometimesequipped with automated container loaders for depositing refuse withinthe vehicle body. Though these devices may increase the rate at whichindividual containers may be loaded, the overall collection efficiencyis often limited by how quickly the deposited refuse can be transferredfrom the receiving hopper to the storage compartment.

[0011] The present invention seeks to overcome the disadvantages ofsliding packing devices and vehicle body tilting mechanisms by providinga low cost, minimal maintenance system for rapidly transferring refusefrom the receiving hopper to the storage compartment of a refusecollection vehicle that may be advantageously employed in conjunctionwith an automated container loader to increase the overall efficiency ofrefuse collection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided arefuse collection vehicle body having a rear and a front. The vehiclebody has at its rear a refuse storage compartment having a rear dooroperable to open to permit egress of refuse and at its front a refusereceiving hopper. The receiving hopper has a substantially vertical rearpartition located forward of the storage compartment and separating thereceiving hopper from the storage compartment. The rear partition has anaperture for passage of the refuse to the storage compartment. Apendular packing device is pivotally mounted within the receivinghopper. The packing device has a refuse engaging face and is operable toarcuately swing, thereby transferring the refuse to the storagecompartment through the aperture. The rear partition is operable tolongitudinally slide toward the rear door of the storage compartment,thereby displacing the refuse in the storage compartment out through thedoor.

[0013] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided arefuse collection vehicle comprising: a vehicle frame having front andrear sets of road engaging wheels mounted thereunder and motive meansfor rotating at least one of the sets of wheels; a vehicle cab mountedon the vehicle frame; and, a vehicle body having a rear and a frontlongitudinally mounted on the vehicle frame rearward of the vehicle cab.The vehicle body has at its rear a refuse storage compartment having arear door operable to open to permit egress of refuse and at its front arefuse receiving hopper. The receiving hopper has a substantiallyvertical rear partition located forward of the storage compartment andseparating the receiving hopper from the storage compartment. The rearpartition has an aperture for passage of the refuse to the storagecompartment. A pendular packing device is pivotally mounted within thereceiving hopper. The packing device has a refuse engaging face and isoperable to arcuately swing, thereby transferring the refuse to thestorage compartment through the aperture. The rear partition is operableto longitudinally slide toward the rear door of the storage compartment,thereby displacing the refuse in the storage compartment out through thedoor.

[0014] According to yet another aspect of the invention, there isprovided a refuse collection vehicle comprising: a vehicle frame havingfront and rear sets of road engaging wheels mounted thereunder andmotive means for rotating at least one of the sets of wheels; a vehiclecab mounted on the vehicle frame; and, a vehicle body having a rear anda front longitudinally mounted on the vehicle frame rearward of thevehicle cab. The vehicle body has at its rear a refuse storagecompartment having a rear door operable to open to permit egress ofrefuse and at its front a refuse receiving hopper. The receiving hopperhas a substantially vertical rear partition with substantially the samewidth and height as the interior of the storage compartment locatedforward of the storage compartment and separating the receiving hopperfrom the storage compartment. The rear partition has an aperture forpassage of the refuse to the storage compartment. A pendular packingdevice is pivotally mounted within the receiving hopper and has a refuseengaging face. The device is operable to arcuately swing, therebytransferring the refuse to the storage compartment through the apertureand has at least one swing member having an upper end and a lower end.The upper end of the swing member is pivotally mounted at substantiallythe top of the rear partition. The refuse engaging face is attached tothe lower end of the swing member and adapted to block the aperture toprevent passage of the refuse from the storage compartment to thereceiving hopper. The aperture is located at substantially the bottom ofthe rear partition. The receiving hopper is operable to longitudinallyslide toward the rear door of the storage compartment, therebydisplacing the refuse in the storage compartment out through the door.

[0015] Further features of the invention will be described or willbecome apparent in the course of the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, apreferred embodiment thereof will now be described in detail by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0017]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refuse vehicle.

[0018]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a refuse vehicle body with apendular packing device in the raised position.

[0019]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a refuse vehicle body with apendular packing device in the lowered position.

[0020]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a refuse receiving hopper with apendular packing device.

[0021]FIG. 5 is a side view of a first embodiment of a refuse vehiclebody during ejection of refuse.

[0022]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a refusevehicle body during ejection of refuse.

[0023]FIG. 7 is a side view of a second embodiment of a refuse vehiclebody during ejection of refuse.

[0024]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a refuse collection vehicle withan automated container loader adjacent the side of the vehicle.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0025] A refuse collection vehicle is generally illustrated in FIG. 1.The vehicle chassis includes a frame 1 having front and rear sets ofwheels 2 and 3 and a vehicle cab 4 at the front of the frame. The cab 4houses the vehicle operator and vehicle controls (not shown). An engine(not shown) is typically mounted to the frame 1 at the front of thevehicle for powering the vehicle hydraulic system and for rotating atleast one of the sets of rear wheels 3. A vehicle body 5 is mounted ontop of the frame I rearward of the cab 4. The vehicle body 5 includes areceiving hopper 6 into which refuse is deposited for subsequenttransfer to a storage compartment 7. The receiving hopper 6 is shownwith openings in its top and side through which refuse may be depositedby an automated container loader (not shown). A refuse collectionvehicle may also have openings in the side of the receiving hopper 6(not shown) to permit manual side loading of refuse from residentialwaste containers. The storage compartment 7 has at least one rear door 8that is operable to open to permit egress of stored refuse, such as at alandfill site, preferably using hydraulic cylinders.

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a pendular packing device 9 isshown within the receiving hopper 6. The receiving hopper 6 has a rearpartition 110 that separates the receiving hopper from the storagecompartment 7. The partition 10 has an aperture 11 for passage of refusefrom the receiving hopper 6 to the storage compartment 7. The pendularpacking device 9 is operable to arcuately swing, thereby transferringrefuse through the aperture 11.

[0027] The packing device 9 includes a pair of swing members 12 and arefuse transfer head 13. The upper end of each swing member 12 ispivotally attached to the vehicle body 5, for example, by means of abracket 14 at substantially the top of the rear partition 10. Thebracket 14 may include bearings (not shown) to facilitate pivotingmovement of the swing member 12. The lower end of each swing member 12is attached to the refuse transfer head 13, which has a refuse engagingface 15 oriented towards the rear of the vehicle. A hydraulic cylinder16 is pivotally attached at one end to each swing member 12. Theopposite end is attached to a portion of the vehicle body 5, such as ahorizontal cross member 17 at the front of the receiving hopper 6. Tooperate the packing device 9, the cylinders 16 are extended, causing therefuse engaging face 15 to arcuately swing downwardly and rearwardly,thereby transferring refuse resting on the receiving hopper floor 18into the storage compartment 7 through the aperture 11. In order thatthe majority of refuse is removed from the receiving hopper 6, thetransfer head 13 includes side 19 and top 20 surfaces to prevent refusefrom falling behind the face 15 and the receiving hopper floor 18 iscurved to correspond with the arc followed by the packing device 9.Retraction of the cylinders 16 causes the transfer head 13 to swing inthe opposite direction, thereby readying the receiving hopper 6 for thenext deposit of refuse.

[0028] To empty the contents of the storage compartment 7, for exampleat a landfill site, a refuse ejection system may be employed where therear door 8 is opened and the rear partition 10 is moved longitudinallytowards the rear of the vehicle body 5. The movement of the rearpartition 10 causes the volume of the storage compartment 7 to decrease,thereby displacing refuse from the storage compartment out through theopen rear door 8 and eliminating the need for a vehicle body tiltingmechanism.

[0029] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, in a first embodiment thelongitudinal movement is created by extension of a telescoping cylinder21 that may be attached, for example, at one end to the front of thevehicle body 5 and at the other end to the underside of the receivinghopper floor 18. Rails 22 along the bottom of the receiving hopper 6 maybe provided that correspond to slots (not shown) along the bottom of thestorage compartment 7 and lubricated, for example by a low frictionsolid material such as Delrin™ or any other suitable material, tofacilitate longitudinal sliding movement of the receiving hopper.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 7, in a second embodiment both the cylinder 21and rails 22 are attached to the underside of the rear partition andonly the rear partition 10 slides. The partition 10 may, for example,abut against the rear face of an inwardly extending frame 23 along thesides of the vehicle body 5 and the brackets 14 may be attached to thefront face of the inwardly extending frame near the top of the rearpartition. The inwardly extending frame may also be attached to thereceiving hopper floor 18. The rear partition 10 may therefore sliderearwardly independently of the remainder of the receiving hopper 6 inorder to eject refuse from the storage compartment 7.

[0031] To prevent refuse from passing back into the receiving hopper 6through the aperture 11 upon sliding of the rear partition 10, thepacking device 9 may be placed in the lowered position so that therefuse engaging face 15 blocks the aperture. The packing device 9 thenmoves with the rear partition 10 as the entire receiving hopper 6longitudinally slides along the vehicle body 5, thereby preventingtransfer of refuse back into the receiving hopper. Alternatively, a gate24 may be provided to block the aperture 11, which is especially usefulin the second embodiment. The gate 24 may be, for example, hydraulicallyoperated and designed to vertically slide along the rear partition 10.The packing device 9 and gate 24 may also be advantageously employedcooperatively in either embodiment to prevent “spring back” of refusefrom the storage compartment 7 to the receiving hopper 6 following eachindividual refuse transfer operation.

[0032] Turning to FIG. 8, a refuse collection vehicle is shown with anautomated container loader 25 adjacent the side of the receiving hopper6. The automated container loader 25 shown is of a type used to retrievecurbside residential waste containers. An alternative type of automatedcontainer loader (not shown) may be positioned adjacent the front of thevehicle to retrieve a bulk commercial refuse container. Using theautomated container loader 25, a refuse container may be raised anddownwardly tilted to deposit its contents through the top and/or sideopenings into the receiving hopper 6. Automated container loaders areused to promote the efficiency of refuse vehicle operation by increasingcollection speed while reducing labour requirements. The presentinvention may be advantageously employed in conjunction with anautomated container loader to minimize the potential for a bottleneck intransferring refuse caused by an increase in refuse collection speed. Aspreviously described, the present invention employs gravity andfast-acting hydraulic cylinders to rapidly transfer refuse from thereceiving hopper 6 to the storage compartment 7 in a vehicle equippedwith a refuse ejection system. This is in contrast to other vehiclesequipped with refuse ejection systems that employ sliding packingdevices utilizing a pair of telescoping cylinders, which are inherentlyslower to extend and more expensive to maintain than the simplecylinders employed in the present invention. The potential for increasedefficiency afforded by the automated container loader 25 is accordinglyrealized in a vehicle equipped with a refuse ejection system through therapid refuse transfer provided by the pendular packing device 9.

[0033] From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is onewell adapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinabove set forthtogether with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the structure.

[0034] It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinationsare of utility and may be employed without reference to other featuresand sub-combinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope ofthe claims.

[0035] Since many possible embodiments may be made of the inventionwithout departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood thatall matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is tobe interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is:
 1. A refusecollection vehicle body having a rear and a front, comprising: a refusestorage compartment at the rear of said vehicle body having a rear dooroperable to open to permit egress of refuse; a refuse receiving hopperat the front of said vehicle body having a substantially vertical rearpartition located forward of said storage compartment and separatingsaid receiving hopper from said storage compartment, said rear partitionhaving an aperture for passage of said refuse to said storagecompartment; a pendular packing means pivotally mounted within saidreceiving hopper having a refuse engaging face, said packing meansoperable to arcuately swing, thereby transferring said refuse to saidstorage compartment through said aperture; said rear partition operableto longitudinally slide toward said rear door of said storagecompartment, thereby displacing said refuse in said storage compartmentout through said rear door.
 2. The refuse collection vehicle body ofclaim 1, wherein said rear partition has substantially the same widthand height as the interior of said storage compartment.
 3. The refusecollection vehicle body of claim 2, wherein said packing means moveswith said rear partition and said refuse engaging face blocks saidaperture to prevent passage of said refuse from said storage compartmentto said receiving hopper.
 4. The refuse collection vehicle body of claim3, wherein said packing means has at least one swing member having alower end and an upper end, said refuse engaging face attached to thelower end of said swing member.
 5. Th e refuse collection vehicle bodyof claim 4, where in said upper end of said swing member is pivotallymounted at substantially the top of said rear partition.
 6. The refusecollection vehicle body of claim 5, wherein said aperture is located atsubstantially the bottom of said rear partition.
 7. The refusecollection vehicle body of claim 6, wherein said packing means isoperable by means of a hydraulic cylinder attached at one end to saidvehicle body and at the opposite end to said swing member.
 8. The refusecollection vehicle body of claim 7, wherein said rear partition isoperable by means of a hydraulic cylinder.
 9. The refuse collectionvehicle body of claim 8, wherein said receiving hopper is operable tolongitudinally slide toward said rear door of said storage compartmentto displace said refuse in said storage compartment out through saidrear door.
 10. The refuse collection vehicle body of claim 2, whereinsaid rear partition includes a refuse blocking gate, said gate operableto block said aperture to prevent transfer of said refuse from saidstorage compartment to said receiving hopper.
 11. The refuse collectionvehicle body of claim 10, wherein said aperture is located atsubstantially the bottom of said rear partition.
 12. The refusecollection vehicle body of claim 11, wherein said rear partition isoperable by means of a hydraulic cylinder.
 13. The refuse collectionvehicle body of claim 12, wherein said receiving hopper is operable tolongitudinally slide toward said rear door of said storage compartmentto displace said refuse in said storage compartment out through saidrear door.
 14. A refuse collection vehicle comprising: a vehicle framehaving front and rear sets of road engaging wheels mounted thereunderand motive means for rotating at least one of said sets of wheels; avehicle cab mounted on said vehicle frame; a vehicle body having a rearand a front longitudinally mounted on said vehicle frame rearward ofsaid vehicle cab, said vehicle body comprising: a refuse storagecompartment at the rear of said vehicle body having a rear door operableto open to permit egress of refuse; a refuse receiving hopper at thefront of said vehicle body having a substantially vertical rearpartition located forward of said storage compartment and separatingsaid receiving hopper from said storage compartment, said rear partitionhaving an aperture for passage of said refuse to said storagecompartment; a pendular packing means pivotally mounted within saidreceiving hopper having a refuse engaging face, said packing meansoperable to arcuately swing, thereby transferring said refuse to saidstorage compartment through said aperture; said rear partition operableto longitudinally slide toward said rear door of said storagecompartment, thereby displacing said refuse in said storage compartmentout through said rear door.
 15. The refuse collection vehicle of claim14, wherein said receiving hopper includes a top opening for receivingsaid refuse.
 16. The refuse collection vehicle of claim 15, wherein saidvehicle includes an automated container loader for raising a refusecontainer adjacent the front of said vehicle and downwardly depositingsaid refuse into said receiving hopper.
 17. The refuse collectionvehicle of claim 15, wherein said vehicle includes an automatedcontainer loader for raising a refuse container adjacent the side ofsaid vehicle and downwardly depositing said refuse into said receivinghopper.
 18. The refuse collection vehicle of claim 14, wherein saidreceiving hopper includes a side opening for receiving said refuse. 19.The refuse collection vehicle of claim 18, wherein said vehicle includesan automated container loader for raising a refuse container adjacentthe side of said vehicle and downwardly depositing said refuse into saidreceiving hopper.
 20. A refuse collection vehicle comprising: a vehicleframe having front and rear sets of road engaging wheels mountedthereunder and motive means for rotating at least one of said sets ofwheels; a vehicle cab mounted on said vehicle frame; a vehicle bodyhaving a rear and a front longitudinally mounted on said vehicle framerearward of said vehicle cab, said vehicle body comprising: a refusestorage compartment at the rear of said vehicle body having a rear dooroperable to open to permit egress of refuse; a refuse receiving hopperat the front of said vehicle body having a substantially vertical rearpartition with substantially the same width and height as the interiorof said storage compartment located forward of said storage compartmentand separating said receiving hopper from said storage compartment, saidrear partition having an aperture for passage of said refuse to saidstorage compartment; a pendular packing means pivotally mounted withinsaid receiving hopper having a refuse engaging face, said packing meansoperable to arcuately swing, thereby transferring said refuse to saidstorage compartment through said aperture and having at least one swingmember having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end of said swingmember pivotally mounted at substantially the top of said rearpartition, said refuse engaging face attached to the lower end of saidswing member and adapted to block said aperture to prevent passage ofsaid refuse from said storage compartment to said receiving hopper, saidaperture located at substantially the bottom of said rear partition;said receiving hopper operable to longitudinally slide toward said reardoor of said storage compartment, thereby displacing said refuse in saidstorage compartment out through said rear door.